Oil-heater.



H. SWARTESLANDER.

OIL HEATER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.21, 1912.

Patented Dec. 23, 1913.

HENRY SWARTESLANDER, OF OL CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec.. 23, 1.913.

Application led March 21, 1912. Serial No. 685,306.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that 1; :HENRY Swanrns- `LANDER,a citizen of the United States, residing at Oil City, in the county of`Venango and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Uil-Heaters; and 1 do declare the following 'to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers make and use the same.

rllhis invention relates to mineral oils, and more especially to theutilization of the gases arising therefrom; -and the object of the sameis to make use of such gases to heat the crude oil and thereby bothcause the oil to give off a gas and lighten the oil when itis cold orthick and cause the water therein to precipitate.

rlihese objects are accomplished by treating the raw'product in themanner and by the apparatus hereinafter described and claimed, anddiagrammatically illustrated in the drawing which shows an elevation ofthe apparatus 1 have successfully employed for this purpose.

10 skilledin the art to which it appertains to 1n the drawing thenumeral 1 designates a large tank for containing the crude petroleum asit comes from the well, when ordi 3o narily it includes `a mixture ofoil and water, ln summer time or when the weather is not too cold thiswater, being heavier than the oil, immediately settles to the bottom ofthe tank andmay be drawn 0E from beneath the oil through one or more ofthe cocks 2 with which the tank is provided, the level of the waterbeing visible through a sight gage 3, although any means forascertaining such level and drawing oft the water and oil may beemployed. 1n cold weather, however, the oil thickens and thewater'remains in solution in it; and with some grades of oil the waterand other extra-r neous matter remain in solution through all changes ofthe weather although it may be precipitated by heating the oil to atemperature of from 60 to 80 F., the exact point depending on thecharacter of the oil, the foreign 'matters therein, and otherconditions. It is necessary to free the oil of its most seriousimpurities before it is commercially fit for use, and my presentinvention is intended to perform this service by making use of the aswhich is generated when the crude oil 1s heated.

. 1n carrying out the process 1 provide a ASaid .erably within the pipe4 which extends from a rather low point in the tank to a lcoil 6 locatedwithin an oven 7which may be of brick or stone and will have a suitableair inlet controlled by a damper 8 and a proper fine 9 for the escape ofthe products of combustion which, in fact, may be utilized for purposesnot necessary to mention. To the other end of the coil is connected apipe 10 which extends back into the tank at a point 12 somewhat remotefrom the inlet end A13 of the pipe 4.

pipes contain cocks 5 and 11 respectively, and these 'pipes should besubstantially horizontal so that their entire length' as well as all ofthe coils within the burner' will stand below the lowest level of theoil within the tank. The construction is such that when a re is built inthe oven beneath the coil, the crude oil therein is heated, and rises,and flows through the pipe 10 back into the tank 1 at the point l2 toreplace the oil flowing out of the tank at the point 13, and a constantcirculation is maintained in a manner which will be clear.

Let into the two pipes 4 and 10, and prefoven, are two 'IV-joints 14 and15, from which upright pipes 16 and 17 respectively extend upwardthrough the top of the oven and to a considerable height above it andabove the highest possible level of the oil in the tank 1 as shown;there they are joined as at 18, and above this point a single pipe 167extends into a reservoir 19 which is by preference disposed entirelyabove the top 0f the tank 1 so that by no possibility may oil gatherwithin the reservoir. From the top of the reservoir leads a pipe 20which is carried again downward (preferably passing through a regulatoras indicated at 21) and to any suitable type of burner 22 which islocated within the base of the oven beneath the coil 6. The initialheat-ing of the latter will doubtless be effected by means of a smallfire built below the coil, and the heating of the coil, the adjacentends of the pipes 4, 10, 16 and 17, and the two T-joints 14 and 15, willcanse the crude oil therein to throw oft gas which naturally risesthrough the upright pipes 16 and 17 and accumulates within the reservoir19. Furthermore the heat from the fire vheats the burner 22, and the gasiowing thereinto, so that very soon the burning gas takes the place ofthe temporary fire which latter burns out, and thereafter the vgasautomatically thrown off by the heating of the oil is utilized tocontinue heating the oil and therefore to replenish the gas as fast asit is consumed. Meanwhile the operato-r will keep watch of the conditionof the oil within the tank and decant the impurities from time to timeuntil it is sufficiently purified or refined to no longer need theaction of the process to which it has been subjected, and then one orboth cocks -5 and 1l will be closed, the flow of gas to the burner cutolf as by means of a cock 25 with which its supply pipe is provided, andthe apparatus connected with another tank or this tank emptied andysupplied with another charge of crude petroleum so that the process.may

`be repeated.

. I emphasize the fact that the illustration herewith is not onlydiagrammatic but'also susceptible of considerable modification andvariation without departing from the essential principle involved.

I have suggested above that a regulator 21 might be inserted in the pipe2O between the reservoir 19 and the burner 22. In some cases this mightbe entirely omitted, and the type of reservoir employed is notimportant. Its purpose would be to regulate the pressure of the gasflowing to the burner, and possibly also to regulate its volume althoughthis might be done by the cock 25. In any event the oil passes along onepipe, through the burner, and back in the other pipe, while the gas(either that thrown off naturally or that thrown olf by reason of theheat) rises through the pipes 16 and 17 which extend above the level ofthe oil in l the tank, and finally accumulates within the reservoir.From the latter it is drawn as needed and fed to the burner, where it isburned to heat the coil. Thus it will be seen' that this device burnsgas generated naturally or by heat, but it does not burn the oil or thevapor therefrom, and therefore none of the oil is wasted.

That is claimed as new is:

The herein described apparatus for heating crude oil, the sameconsisting of a tank, a coil, pipes connecting the coil with the tankand standing throughout their length below the lowest level of the oilin the tank, an oven inclosin thepcoil, a burner therein beneath suchcoil, T-couplings within said pipes inside the oven and adjacent thecoil, gas pipes leading upward from said couplings through the top ofthe oven, a gas reservoir located entirely above the level of the tankand with which these pipes are connected, and a gas feed .pipe leadingfrom the reservoir to the burner.

In testimony whereof I havehereunto Set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

HENRY .SWARTESLANDER Witnesses:

H. D. BROWN, GEORGE W.`MoonE.

